The Riddle of the Night
by bookworm1478
Summary: Hawke and Dominic try to solve a murder and keep a friend from going to prison.
1. Chapter 1

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

Every sound in the apartment was heightened. Caitlin could hear her own breathing and the thumping of her heart. Henri was standing in front of her dressed as if it were a normal day for him. He had finally come for her.

"Angela, I have missed you." Henri took a step toward her.

Caitlin put her hand out as a warning. "Don't come any closer, Henri."

Henri looked upset. "Why are you acting like this? I came to get you."

"You kept me for six weeks without even trying to find out who I was. You lied to me in order to keep me at your side. I had family and friends who thought I was dead and you didn't try to help me get back to them. Why should I go anywhere with you?"

"Because I love you," Henri whispered.

"You're in love with a woman that lives in your mind. I'm not Angela Wolfe. She wasn't real."

"But you are. . ." He took two steps toward her.

"No," Caitlin yelled.


	2. Chapter 2

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

Hawke tore up the flight plan and started a new one. He hated writing up flight plans, especially when he wasn't the one flying. He needed to Caitlin and this would give him a better excuse to talk to her then just calling her to say 'Hi, Cait, I just called because I had a bad feeling'.

Hawke picked up the phone and dialed her number from memory. After two rings, someone picked up.

"Hello?"

Hawke's muscles immediately tensed at the unfamiliar voice. "Who is this?"

"Who is this?" The voice repeated his question.

Hawke dropped the pencil onto the pad of paper. "My name is Stringfellow Hawke. I'm looking for Caitlin O' Shaughnessy. I'm going to ask again. Who is this?"

"Detective Jack Lewis. Mr. Hawke, are you friends with Miss O'Shaughnessy?"

"Yes." Hawke was getting more worried by the second.

"Then you should get here as soon as you can. Miss O'Shaughnessy is being arrested for murder of Henri Duveaux."

Twenty-five minutes later, Hawke swerved into an empty parking space and jumped out of the jeep. An ambulance took up most of the street in front of Caitlin's apartment building. The rest of the area was flooded with police and reporters.

Hawke pushed by some spectators and made it to the main entrance of the apartment building, but a police officer blocked the way.

Hawke pulled out his ID. "My friend lives here. I need to see if she's okay." He said, willingly not telling the police officer his friend was the one arrested for murder.

"No can do, buddy." The officer said in a gruff voice that matched his large exterior and five o'clock shadow. "This is a crime scene and nobody's going up there."

Just then a photographer broke through the press line and headed toward the main door. The police officer turned away from Hawke long enough to take care of the guy. Hawke squeezed through the main entrance and ran up the stairs.

The second floor was flooded with police, all wearing white gloves and booties. Hawke could see Caitlin's apartment from where he stood, but not inside.

"Who are you?" A voice called out. Hawke turned around to be face to neck with a man in a chocolate brown suit that made his brown skin a shade darker.

"I'm Stringfellow Hawke." Hawke pulled out his ID once more to show the man. "I think I talked to you on the phone. Detective Lewis."

"Ah, yeah," His face didn't show any inflection. "You're friends with Miss O'Shaughnessy."

"Yeah, could you let me see her? I need to know if she's all right."

Detective Lewis' face softened slightly. "Miss O'Shaughnessy has some cuts and bruises indicative of a fight and the palm of her right hand is burnt, but other than that she's fine."

"Burnt?" Hawke scrunched up his nose. "How?"

Detective shrugged his shoulders. "You'll have to go outside now. We're almost ready to take Miss O'Shaughnessy to headquarters for booking. Ralph, escort Mr. Hawke outside and radio headquarters were coming in."

"Sure thing, Detective." Another police officer took Hawke's arm and guided him down the steps.

When Hawke got outside, the officer let his arm go and Hawke found Dominic standing away from the crowd looking haggard and sleep deprived.

"Did you see her?" Dominic asked.

"No, but they're getting ready to bring her out. Dominic, they think she killed Duveaux."

Dominic made a sound with both his lips pursed together. "Our Cait? Kill someone? She could never. . .Wait, Duveaux is in prison. How did he. ." Before Dominic could finish, the flashbulbs went off in a flurry as Caitlin was brought down. Their view of her was minimal because of the crowd, but she was being escorted by two policemen and her hands were behind her back.

Once they put her in the police car, reality set in.

"Mama Mia!, String. This is a nightmare." Dominic said as they watched the police car drive away.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

I apologize for being late with the new chapters. My computer is now fixed and working better than ever. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

Hawke and Dominic sat in hard plastic chairs that bit into them through their pants legs. It had been two hours since Caitlin had been slid into the police car. Two hours that felt like an eternity.

No one had allowed them to see her or even let them know what was going on. They were ushered into plastic chairs by a policeman standing at the front desk and then left to their own devices. Neither one uttered a word the whole time, until a well dressed man walked out and stood in front of them.

"Are you Stringfellow Hawke and Dominic Santini?" The suited man asked. He carried a black suitcase at this side and looked very official. If Hawke had the chance to guess, he would say a lawyer. The only problem was, neither he nor Dominic called a lawyer.

"Yeah," Dominic spoke up, removing his dirty red hat.

"Come with me. We should talk." The man turned on the heel of his pricey shoes and walked back down the hall where he came from. Hawke and Dominic got to their feet and followed a few feet behind.

The man led them through into a room completely void of color or wall hangings. One table set in the middle of the room with two chairs on one side and a lone chair facing them on the other side. Hawke sat down and immediately felt like a felon.

The well-dressed man sat his briefcase on the table and sat down on the chair. "I'm the lawyer for Miss O'Shaughnessy. I was retained two hours ago, shortly before she arrived here." He took some papers out of his briefcase and flipped through them. "You've known Miss O'Shaughnessy going on two years?"

"What's your name?" Hawke asked.

"Oren Harrower, Esquire. Now, gentlemen, Miss O'Shaughnessy is being held here until her arraignment tomorrow morning. She's going to be charged with felony murder at which time she will be imprisoned."

"What about getting her out on her own—what's it called—recognizance?" Dominic asked.

"If Miss O'Shaughnessy was a church attending schoolteacher I would say being let out on her own recognizance wouldn't be an issue, but Miss O'Shaughnessy is a pilot with close friends who are pilots. Bail won't even come up in her case."

"When can we see her?"

Mr. Harrower cleared his throat at the same time he closed his briefcase. "Miss O'Shaughnessy—Caitlin, doesn't want to see either of you. She has expressed several times to myself and to her arresting officers that she doesn't wish to see either of you."

Hawke looked over at Dominic and saw the hurt look on his face. The look, he was sure, he was also sporting. More than that, though, his heart hurt because of Cait's request.

"You do know that Henri Duveaux held Caitlin for six weeks while she lived under a name she assumed was really her name?"

"Yes," Oren nodded. "Mr. Duveaux was also a drug dealer that was released from prison before his term was finished."

"How?" Dominic asked.

"I don't know. I have a meeting with the D.A., gentlemen. I will let you know how the arraignment hearing goes tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 4

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

Hawke slammed down the phone, making it the third time he had done so. Michael was avoiding his phone calls using the excuse he was in meetings.

Dominic walked in with a white bag in one hand and a cardboard container in the other hand containing Styrofoam cups. He set down both and handed Hawke a cup. "Any luck getting a hold of Michael?"

"No. Have you talked to Cait's parents?"

"They're on a trip with one of her brothers and the neighbor doesn't know how to get a hold of them. I have a question about the lawyer, though. If we didn't hire him and her parents have no idea about the situation, who hired him?"

Hawke took a long draw out of the cup and a bite of the sandwich Dominic had gotten for him. "I've made some calls and Oren Harrower, Esquire is a high priced lawyer with great record."

Dominic took a seat on the metal chair. "He doesn't sound like the kind of lawyer that would be sitting around police stations waiting for his next client to walk in wearing handcuffs, does he?"

"No." Hawke glanced at his watch. "Cait's arraignment hearing started twenty minutes ago so we should know something soon."

* * *

An hour of a half later while both men were working on their new seven seater Bell LongRanger helicopter for tours, Oren Harrower walked into the hangar.

Hawke dropped his wrench from the top of the ladder and climbed down. "You're late." He said as he wiped his hands on a rag. "The arraignment should have ended a half hour ago."

"It did," Oren said, setting his briefcase down and running his hand through his dark brown hair. "Caitlin changed her plea to not guilty after telling the police last night that she killed Henri Duveaux. The judge denied bail, like I thought he would, and set the court date for two weeks from now." He glanced at his watch. "I'm meeting with the D.A. for a late lunch meeting in forty-five minutes. Caitlin asked me to come by and thank you for not coming to the arraignment and remind you she still doesn't want to see you."

Hawke slammed his hand down on the briefcase. "Tell Caitlin there's no chance of that happening."

Dominic laid a hand on Hawke's shoulder to calm him down. "Don't you find it a little strange, Mr. Harrower that Caitlin confessed to the murder last night and less than twenty four hours later pled not guilty?"

"I've seen stranger things in the cases I've handled, Mr. Santini." Oren said.

"Speaking of which," Hawke said. "Dominic and I didn't hire you and we know Cait's parents didn't hire you so, who hired you to take our friend's case, Mr. Harrower?"

Oren picked his briefcase up from under Hawke's hand and glanced at his watch. "I have to go, gentlemen, but I'll be in touch after I speak to the D.A."


	5. Chapter 5

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

It wasn't long after Oren left that Hawke started working on the LongRanger again. Dominic started soon after and they got the engine cleaned up and ready to be fixed. Hawke felt helpless and that feeling was compounded by the fact that Caitlin wouldn't see him. He knew in his gut that she didn't kill Henri, but her admission at the murder scene was just as baffling as her not guilty plea at the arraignment.

A loud clang snapped him back to reality and he heard Dominic utter something under his breath.

"Dom, you all right?" Hawke asked from the engine.

"Yeah. I was thinking about Cait and dropped an engine part. Are we really going to sit here working on this helicopter and let someone else prove Cait's innocence?"

Hawke hopped down off the stool. "Ya know, Dom, I was thinking the same thing. I thought I would take a trip over to Cait's apartment and snoop around."

Dominic lifted his hat, wiped his forehead, and replaced the hat on his head. "That's funny because I didn't hear a 'we' in that sentence and there had to be a 'we' in that sentence because we don't do anything solo around here. Four eyes are better than two eyes and two eyes are better than one."

Hawke threw the rag to Dominic so he could wipe his hands. "Speaking of which, have you heard from Michael?"

"Not since you tried him this morning. He is either really in closed door meetings or he heard what happened and closed the door on his own. I mean, how would it look for one of the bigwigs in the FIRM to be cavorting with a murder suspect and her case?" Dominic tossed the rag onto Cait's desk and grabbed his keys. "Come on, I'm driving."

The drive to Cait's new apartment was forty-five minutes from the hangar. There were no signs of police presence outside her apartment. Inside, could be another problem. Dominic kept pushing an apartment button aggressively until the front door to the apartment's building opened and they were allowed into the locked apartment building by an apartment owner that just wanted to be left alone.

Hawke thought there would be a policeman outside Cait's door, but there wasn't a policeman. However, there was the yellow police tape blocking the entrance of her apartment.

With Dominic keeping a lookout, Hawke took his pocketknife and sliced the yellow police tape so the seal would be broken on the door. Then he used his key to get into her apartment. All in all, it took seven minutes to get into her apartment.

Caitlin always kept her apartment in pretty good condition. When Hawke and Dominic walked in, what they saw was not what Cait's apartment usually looked like. Fingerprint dust coated the tables and a dark stain covered the linoleum of the kitchen floor.

"The coffee pot is missing," Dominic was the first to point out. "And there's a stain on the kitchen floor that doesn't match the blood stain on the carpet."

Hawke walked around the kitchen.

"What's wrong, Hawke?" Dominic asked from his place in the kitchen.

Hawke was standing at the sink. He made a three-hundred and sixty degree turn and faced Dominic once again. "There's something missing."

"What do you mean?"

"Something's not right about this kitchen."

"I was here last week and everything seems to be here and in the same place, besides the coffee pot."

"It will come to me later. What I want to know is how Duveaux got into her apartment?"

"The same way we did," Dominic suggested. "If he kept buzzing apartments, someone was likely to buzz him in just to get it to stop. He breaks into her apartment and waits for her."

"Caitlin copped to the murder and then twelve hours later pleads not guilty. What happened in here last night, Hawke?"

"I don't know. It would help if we could get Cait to talk to us."

"I don't understand why she won't talk to us, Hawke. We're the closest thing to family, Cait has here and she's shutting us out."

From outside, they heard the creak of a door and a man's voice. They both glanced at each other.

"We need to go," Hawke mouthed. Dominic nodded. Hawke opened the door a crack and waited until Cait's elderly neighbor entered his apartment. When the door closed, Hawke waited five seconds and then walked out. Dominic followed behind.


	6. Chapter 6

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

After leaving Cait's apartment, Hawke headed for the FIRM. Dominic didn't say anything until they pulled into visitor parking and got out of the jeep.

"What do you expect to accomplish by doing this?" Dominic asked.

"Michael hasn't been answering the phone," Hawke took out his ID and showed it at the front door. They were immediately let in. "As friends of Michael, we naturally worried that something was wrong and came to check on him."

"You practiced that, didn't you," Dominic asked as they headed for the elevator.

"All the way here."

They took the elevator to Michael's office. Cassy was the familiar face they saw when they got off the elevator. She was sitting at the desk, typing at a rapid rate of speed.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Hawke and Mr. Santini?" Cassy asked without looking up from the computer.

"Michael isn't answering his phone calls and we came to check in on him."

"Mr. Briggs is in closed door meetings for the next few days. He's instructed me to take messages from anyone that calls." She stopped typing and turned toward them. "Can I take a message?" Cassy said with a grin.

"When did these closed door meetings begin?" Dominic asked.

"I'm not at liberty to say, Mr. Santini. If you'd like to leave a message for him, I can make sure he gets it."

"How about we invite ourselves to the meetings," Hawke said and opened Michael's office door.

No one was inside.

Cassy quickly got up from her desk, grabbed the door handle from Hawke, and closed the door. "These meetings are at the White House, Mr. Hawke, and I don't think you could get away with what you just did here in that building."

Hawke grinned. "Just tell him we've been calling and that we came to see him. Tell him it's important, Cassy."

"I will tell him as soon as he calls in." Cassy walked over to the main door that led into the hallway and opened it for them. "Good day, gentlemen."

"Do you find it a little strange that Michael takes closed door meetings around the same time that Caitlin is arrested for Duveaux's murder?"

"I find it more than a little strange." Hawke hit the elevator button harder than he should have. "We might as well get back to work."

When they arrived at the hangar, Oren's car was parked outside of the hangar. He was standing outside, leaning against his car door with a briefcase in one hand and a bottle of drink in the other.

"Is Caitlin all right?" Hawke asked as he exited the jeep.

"Caitlin's fine. I finished a meeting with the D.A. forty-five minutes ago and wanted to update you." He looked around at the empty parking lot. "Do you have some time?"

Dominic unlocked the door and followed Hawke and Oren into the hangar. Oren set his briefcase on the table and opened it. From inside he pulled out a manila envelope. He handed Hawke the envelope. "Those are the pictures taken at the crime scene. You understand I'm under no obligation to show you these pictures. I'm doing this because I think Caitlin needs some people in her corner."

"We've always been in her corner," Dominic stated harshly.

Hawke perused one picture and then handed it to Dominic. The pictures were numbered. They consisted of a closed front door, some broken items in the living room, the smashed coffee pot in the kitchen, and several pictures of Duveaux's dead body lying face up with a knife sticking out of his chest; a kitchen knife that was part of a set belonging in Caitlin's kitchen.

Hawke took the kitchen picture from Dominic again and looked at it closer this time.

"What is it?" Oren asked. "Do you see something?"

"It's not what I see, but what I don't see. Something's not in the kitchen that should be in the kitchen."

"There were only two things out of place and that was the smashed coffee pot and the knife. By the way, you asked how Caitlin burnt her hand. She told me she burnt it when she dropped the coffee pot and the coffee splattered."

Oren gathered the pictures and put them back into his briefcase.

"Oh, when do we pick up Caitlin's car from impound?" Hawke asked.

"Her car was never taken to impound because it was never found. Police searched two blocks and couldn't find it. Caitlin even gave the police the exact location of where she parked it when they told her it was missing."

"Someone stole Cait's car on the same night that Henri Duveaux was killed in her apartment. Coincidence?" Hawke asked.

"I think not," Dominic answered.


	7. Chapter 7

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

It was dark before Hawke got to the cabin. Everything around him was quiet as he got out of the jeep and made his way down the path and around the side of the house. Tet was patiently waiting at the door when he walked in. Hawke gave his friend a scratch behind the ear and went to the refrigerator. He needed a cold beer and some quiet time to think.

Tet followed closely behind him and when Hawke stopped at the refrigerator so did Tet.

"What do you want?" Hawke asked as he popped the lid on the beer.

Tet didn't move.

"If you're hungry, get into the cabinet and get some food."

Tet didn't move.

"Fine. I'll get it for you." Hawke set his beer on the counter and went to the cabinet under the sink where the dog food was rigged to fall when the door was opened. Hawke opened the door. No food fell out.

Hawke closed the cabinet door. "Tet, I'm sorry. I was supposed to go to the grocery store yesterday, but with everything that happened. . ." He stopped.

"The grocery store." Hawke picked up his beer and went to the couch. "That's what I was missing, Tet. Caitlin had groceries in her car, but there weren't any groceries in the house."

Tet ambled his way over to Hawke and set beside him. Hawke rubbed between Tet's ears. "Where did the groceries go, Tet?"

"Airport. Long-term parking." The detective said when Hawke let him into the hangar the next morning. "When the report was put out on her car, security at the airport picked it up at long term parking which is why no one second guessed a car being there in the first place."

"And the groceries?" Dominic asked.

"There were no groceries in the car and, Mr. Hawke, there were no groceries bags in the apartment when the police arrived." His radio went off as they stood in the hangar.

"Yeah," He answered. They all listened to the garbled message from a police officer that there was no fresh milk in the refrigerator at Caitlin's apartment. What he did have to report, though, was that the yellow police tape sealing the door had been slit.

"You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Detective asked as he put the radio back on his belt.

"We're not allowed near her apartment, remember?" Hawke remarked. "So, Detective, what do you make of Caitlin's car disappearing from her block and showing up at long-term parking without groceries inside?"

Detective threw his hands in the air. "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

"It would help if we could talk to Caitlin," Dominic said, "Is there any way you can get us into see her without letting her know its us she's seeing?"

"Talk to her lawyer," Detective said. "If you can arrange something between the three of you have him call me and I'll set it up. Do you honestly believe she didn't kill Henri Duveaux when they were the only two in her apartment that night?"

Hawke glanced at Dominic and then back at the detective. "Yeah, we do."


	8. Chapter 8

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

The room was cool and almost inhuman. It was similar to the room they were put in the night Caitlin was arrested three nights ago.

Oren had called Hawke and Dominic at the hangar with a meeting time. They met at the prison and went through the rigmarole everyone went through to see a prisoner.

Cait was a prisoner. The word sent a shiver down Hawke's spine.

The cold metal chair Hawke was sitting on was just about getting to him when Oren came in carrying his briefcase.

"She's on her way," Oren said. "And she's not happy."

"There's nothing about prison to _be_ happy about, believe me." Dominic uttered.

They sat in silence for twenty minutes before the door opened and a female guard came in.

"Where is she?" Hawke asked.

"Right here," Caitlin followed the guard inside and another guard closed the door behind them.

"You have thirty minutes. If the inmate gets hostile, we take her out." The female guard said before leaving.

"Nice lady," Dominic muttered. "Reminds me of a nun I once knew." He pulled out a chair and sat down. "How are you, sweetheart?"

"You shouldn't have come," Caitlin said.

Hawke stood in the corner with his hands in front of him. "Well, the last time we saw you, you're pretty red head was being pushed into a police car. Caitlin, tell us what's going on?"

"I killed Henri Duveaux. End of story. Now leave." She ran her hands through her hair and stared down at the table while the hair she had just pushed back fell over her face.

"You didn't kill Duveaux, Cait, because you don't have it in you to kill a fly."

"I've killed plenty of flies, Dominic," Caitlin shot up from her chair and yelled. Seconds later, the guard came in.

"It's all right," Oren told the guard. "Give us the rest of our time please."

The guard nodded and closed the door behind them. "I stabbed Duveaux with a knife I had in my kitchen."

"Was that before or after you burnt your hand with the coffee?" Hawke asked.

Caitlin shot a dirty look at him. "When you killed Kyra inches away from me, everything about my kidnapping came racing back to me."

"You didn't kill Horn," Hawke said.

"No, because you did it for me." Caitlin reminded him. "I was hurt and tired and seeing Duveaux in my apartment just reminded me of the six weeks I was with him and not with the two of you. I grabbed a knife and stabbed him."

"Then drove your car to the airport, put it in long term parking, and took a cab back to the apartment. When did you have time to put away the groceries, Cait?"

Caitlin shot out of her seat and slammed her hands on the table. "I killed Duveaux."

The guard stormed in. "That's it. Let's go."

Oren stepped out of the way so the guard could take Caitlin and move her around the table and out the door.

"The trial's next week. Her plea of not guilty is in the system. Honestly, I don't know what she's doing by switching her story," Oren told them as they walked out of the prison and to their respective cars.

"What do you think, String?" Dominic asked as he got into the driver's side of the jeep.

"Me?" He slid his sunglasses on his nose. "I think the lady protests too much."


	9. Chapter 9

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

"What do you mean?" Dominic asked as he navigated the jeep through traffic to go back to the hangar.

"I don't think Caitlin knows if she killed Duveaux or not. Think about it, she admits to murder at her apartment when the cops were there, she pled not guilty at her arraignment, and thirty minutes ago she admitted to murder once again. We may never know what happened?"

They finished the rest of the trip in silence until they pulled into the hangar. The hangar door was open.

"Did you leave the door open, String?"

Hawke shook his head even as he reached for the gun in the glove compartment.

Hawke held the gun out as they entered the hangar.

There was a man in a black suit sitting in a metal chair with his legs crossed. His hair was a shiny silver that matched his mustache. "I would put the gun away if I were you. Killing me would only bring you more trouble than you're already in." He stood up and dusted the back of his pants. "I've gotten used to more comfortable chairs and cleaner as well."

Hawke hooked his gun on his belt. "Stringfellow Hawke and Dominic Santini. Now, it's your turn."

The man laughed. "You insult my intelligence by telling me who you are. Do you think I wouldn't know for whom Caitlin works?"

"Well, then we're at the disadvantage," Hawke said. "Who are you?"

"Call me Ethan. I'm here to stop you from doing whatever you are going to do to help Caitlin."

Dominic was halfway in a chair when Ethan said this. He shot up and pointed his finger at Ethan, "Who the h---?"

"Before you start cursing at me, Mr. Santini, I've known Caitlin since she was an infant. I only have her best interest at heart."

"You're wearing a thousand dollar suit, five hundred dollar tie, and shoes that I can see my reflection in. Where do you work?"

Ethan cleared his throat and straightened his jacket. "Where I work is a non-issue. I know of Caitlin's predicament and I've taken steps to handle it."

Hawke took a step closer to him. "What steps?"

"Caitlin's trial begins next week. If she's found guilty, she'll be flown out of the country to whereabouts only I will know about."

"What about her family?"

Ethan's face dropped and Hawke could have sworn he looked paler than his normal skin tone. "When they return from their vacation, I will tell them everything. They trust me and know I will only do what is best for Caitlin."

"So, what we're doing, trying to find the truth, is like eating soup with a fork?" Dominic asked.

"Everything has been handled. Caitlin will remain perfectly safe. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Ethan started to walk away and Hawke called out to him. Ethan turned. "Yes, Mr. Hawke."

"You handled all the paperwork a couple months ago when I was trying to get out of the state with Kelly, didn't you? Caitlin asked you for help and you helped her. Just who are you, anyway?"

Ethan slid his sunglasses out of his pocket and grinned. "Caitlin and the boys used to call me Batman."

As soon as Ethan was out the hangar door, a black Lincoln pulled up. Ethan got inside and gave the driver instructions. As soon as he was off the property, he picked up the car phone and dialed the number he was given.

"It's me," He said into the receiver. "I did what you asked me to do. I hope you know what you're doing."

"I do," The female voice said and then a dial tone. Ethan hung up and closed his eyes to pray.


	10. Chapter 10

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

"Do you think he was serious?" Dominic asked when Ethan left the hangar.

Hawke picked the tool box off the floor and carried it to the helicopter they had been working on. "He had new identities with the works when Kelly and I were going to leave town. You can't come up with that unless you have some power behind you." Hawke rolled up his sleeves and dove head first into the back of the helicopter.

"What we need is a reason for someone else to kill Duveaux and someone that had access to Cait's apartment." Dominic said as he joined Hawke at the helicopter.

"That still wouldn't explain why Caitlin confessed, reneged, and then confessed again to killing Duveaux. It's almost like she's a puppet and someone's pulling her strings."

Hawke pulled out of the butt of the helicopter, threw a faulty hose next to the toolbox, and walked back to the desk.

If Dominic was right, there was a list of people that could be putting Caitlin through this on purpose. Hawke picked up the phone and dialed Oren's office.

* * *

"Rupert is dead." Oren said, as soon as Hawke opened his front door that same evening. Tet whined at his feet. "Nice dog." He side-stepped Tet and walked into the living room. "The cause of death was an engine fire caused by a car accident. The body was severely burned."

"How do you know it was Rupert that died then? He could have planned the whole thing."

Oren found the liquor and poured himself a drink. When the liquid in his glass was gone, he continued. "There were six witnesses that saw Rupert get into his car, pull out of the parking place, and get hit by a car when he pulled out of the restaurant parking lot. Two of the witnesses said Rupert's screams were unimaginable. Rupert did not kill Duveaux and frame Caitlin for it unless he did it from beyond the grave. In my profession, I haven't heard of too many cases like that."

Oren helped himself to another glass and poured Hawke one as well.

"What if Caitlin did kill Henri Duveaux, Mr. Hawke? Have you thought about that? What if it is as simple as Duveaux followed her into her apartment, they argued, a struggle ensued, and Caitlin stabbed him to death."

Hawke took the drink Oren offered. "Way to defend your client there, Mr. Harrower, Esquire."

"I'm serious. Even in my line of work, I have to play devil's advocate. Henri Duveaux kept Angela Wolfe a.k.a.: Caitlin O'Shaughnessy at his home for six weeks without helping her find out whom she really was. He stole her medical records from the hospital so that no one would be able to track her by using them. During her stay with Duveaux, she learned of incriminating evidence against him and helped in his capture. Two days after Caitlin's memory of the kidnapping and shooting that rendered her amnesiac returns, Duveaux winds up on her doorstep and Caitlin, fueled by her anger, stabs him. The jury is out for four days and comes back with a guilty verdict. Caitlin serves the rest of her life in prison."

"Not exactly," Hawke mumbled into the glass that had once held a drink.

"I'm good at my job and even I can't make the facts of the case disappear."

"How do we know those are the facts of the case?" Hawke asked setting up and pushing Tet away from his feet. "We know Duveaux was killed in her apartment, but we don't know when he was killed in her apartment. What if Duveaux was already dead and Caitlin walked into the mess?"

Oren had a glass to his lips when Hawke said this. He set it down quickly. "Shock makes the body do funny things; confusion and memory lapses, for example. Caitlin had just remembered being kidnapped and shot by Horn. She walks into her apartment and sees Duveaux dead on her floor. Shock takes over and by the time the police arrive Caitlin admits to murder."

Tet whined and Hawke scratched between his ears. "There's only one thing we can't explain. How did the car end up at the airport and where did the groceries go?"

Oren set the empty glasses in the sink and picked up his briefcase. "That's a question I'll ask Caitlin in the morning when I see her, but if you can do a little digging on your own. If I can put reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury, Caitlin could go free."


	11. Chapter 11

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

"Tell him when he finds a time in his busy schedule to give me a call," Hawke slammed down the car phone while still keeping his temper in check to navigate through traffic. When Michael got back from his closed door meetings, he was going to get an earful.

Hawke took a detour in going to the hangar and drove by Caitlin's apartment. Traffic was slowed down by a workman's truck across the street from the apartment. Two men in drab gray suits were working outside of the branch bank. Hawke noticed the man on the ladder was working on a camera. A camera positioned right across the street from the main entrance of Caitlin's apartment building.

Once traffic began to flow at a normal rate, Hawke found a place to turn around and headed back to the hangar. He called Oren on his way there.

Dominic was already at the hangar when Hawke got in. Unless, Hawke slept in town, it was normally Dominic or Caitlin that met him at the hangar in the morning. Driving from the cabin into town was a long and sometimes lugubrious journey.

Hawke told Dominic about the possibility that a camera recorded Duveaux entering Caitlin's apartment along with the real killer. Hawke wanted there to be a real killer. Last night, he had dreamed scenarios of Caitlin killing Duveaux that had left him sick to his stomach and chilled to the bone.

They continued restoring the helicopter, already leaving things for Caitlin to do when she got back; things only her tiny hands or small frame could handle. Around lunchtime was when Oren showed up at the hangar.

"The police and the DA have looked at the tape. Want to see it?"

Hawke wiped his greasy black hands on a handkerchief and threw it into the tool box. "Can we?"

"I talked the police and the DA into letting you see it since you are the closest thing to family Caitlin has here at the moment and may be able to identify anyone entering or leaving Caitlin's apartment." He sized the greasy pilots up in one glance. "Meet me at the police station in one hour. The police and the DA want you to look at the tapes with them present." He looked them over from top to bottom again, this time a little more conspicuously. "One hour, gentlemen." He withdrew his briefcase from the desk where he laid it and left. His shoes clicked on the concrete floor.

* * *

One hour and fifteen minutes later, Hawke, Dominic and Oren stood in a wood paneled room with a uniformed officer, the female DA, and the Detective. One more person in the room would have made it too crowded. A TV and VCR set in the corner.

On the DA's words, the uniformed officer switched the TV on and hit play on the VCR. A clear black and white picture popped up on the screen: the front of Caitlin's apartment building.

"How far into the tape are we?" Hawke asked.

"This is forty-five minutes before Henri Duveaux entered the apartment building." The DA nodded and the uniformed police officer fast forwarded the tape until a man appeared on the screen. It was clearly Henri Duveaux. They watched as the casually dressed man punched buttons on the intercom, mouthed some words, and then went inside the unlocked door.

The DA nodded again and the officer fast forwarded the tape. He stopped at the DA's command. Caitlin's car came into view as it drove by the apartment building. It wasn't seen again. Ten minutes later, Caitlin came into view as she walked down the sidewalk with her key in hand. She entered her apartment building.

"No groceries bags," Hawke mumbled.

Dominic turned toward him. "What?"

He shook his head for Dominic to just ignore him. "What's the time from Duveaux's entrance to Cait's entrance?"

"Twenty minutes. As you can see on the tape, no one entered the building between the times the deceased and Miss O'Shaughnessy did." The uniformed office took the tape from the VCR, slipped it into a bag, and wrote his initials on a paper taped to the bag. He then left with the bag in hand.

"There goes your theory on someone else entering the apartment and killing Mr. Duveaux before your friend arrived home." The DA said. "Unless, God himself dropped proof on my desk that Caitlin O'Shaughnessy did not kill Henri Duveaux, she is going to prison. Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me?" She took the tape and the uniformed officer with her as she left the building.

"What we need is a miracle," Dominic said as they headed back to the hangar after leaving Oren.

"What we need is the truth of what really happened that night. I can't see Caitlin killing Duveaux anymore than I can see her killing one of us."

"But we didn't hold her for six weeks and let her believe she was someone she wasn't." Dominic stopped fooling with the Jeep's radio and sat back in his seat. "I can't get over the fact that everything that has happened wouldn't have happened if we had stopped her from going to that spa months ago."

"Or if I had gone with her like she asked," Hawke said.

They drove in silence the rest of the way back to the hangar. Neither one of them knew what to say


	12. Chapter 12

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

Hawke dropped Dominic off at the hangar and then took the jeep back into town. He didn't have an appointment but he wanted to talk to the DA. Luckily, she was in her office and agreed to see him.

"Can I offer you something to drink?" She asked as Hawke entered her office.

"No, ma'am." He found a hardback chair the same color as her office walls and took a seat. "I came to talk to you about Caitlin O' Shaughnessy."

The DA nodded, straightened some papers on her desk, and put them in a drawer. "I can't drop the charges on Miss O'Shaughnessy without proper reason to. Right now all the evidence I have points to her as a murderer including her admission of guilt."

"Which she recanted," Hawke reminded her.

"And then she admitted to it again."

"And that doesn't sound suspicious to you, ma'am? Cait would never kill anyone unless she had probable cause to do so."

"Like being held for six weeks while a man she didn't remember told her they were a couple or how about finding out the man you'd been living with for six weeks was a drug manufacturer who was responsible for multiple deaths, including that of a Senator's granddaughter."

Hawke stood up. "She DIDN'T kill anyone!" He didn't realize he had raised his voice until after he had done so.

The DA's phone rang and Hawke sat still as she took the phone call.

"Could you call me back in ten minutes please? I have someone in my office. Thank you." The phone call lasted four minutes. When she hung up, she looked at Hawke. "Does Miss O'Shaughnessy know how much you love her?"

Hawke felt his face drop and he tried to compensate by coughing to give him some time to think.

"She's just a friend," Hawke told her after recovering from his fake coughing attack.

"So is my secretary, but I have never defended her as strongly as you just defended Miss O'Shaughnessy." The DA licked her lips and was quiet for several moments. "I need irrefutable proof that Miss O'Shaughnessy didn't kill Henri Duveaux. If I had that I would have to drop all charges against her."

"Time isn't on your side right now, Mr. Hawke," The DA continued. "If you believe so strongly that Miss O'Shaughnessy is innocent, the proof should be easy to find."

"You don't believe she's innocent, do you?" Hawke asked.

"I have an important phone call to take in a few moments, Mr. Hawke. If you could show yourself out, I would appreciate it."

Hawke plucked his sunglasses out of his shirt pocket and with the other hand opened the door. He didn't say anything as he left, but as he closed the door, the phone in her office rang.

Hawke went back to the hangar where Dominic was busy filling out papers. He would put one on top of the other one and continue with the next one.

"What are you doing?" Hawke asked, as he picked up one of the papers.

"I'm filling out insurance forms that Caitlin was going to fill out for me before everything happened. Business has to go on as usual so I also have to get copies of permission forms for the school trip we had scheduled the day after everything happened."

He used that phrase again and it was beginning to irritate Hawke. "We're going to prove her innocence, Dom."

"Paper cut." Dominic swore and stuck his finger in his mouth.

Hawke pulled open the filing cabinet with the blank forms and shuffled through the files before pulling out the right one. It sounded as if Dominic were giving up.

Truth is, Hawke was running out of ideas too.


	13. Chapter 13

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

Hawke sent Dominic home early and he finished up the insurance forms and the permission forms. The school group was set to come at ten in the morning with three different groups going up in the helicopter. The tour would end with lunch at the hangar. While Hawke took one group up, Dominic would show the other group around the hangar and answer any questions.

The permission forms had been filled out and alphabetized for the trip. Hawke divided the sheets into three groups and labeled them: tour 1, tour 2, tour 3. When Hawke cleaned the top of the desk, there was nothing else to do but go home.

Tet greeted him at the door and followed him to the fireplace where Hawke fixed a fire. He pulled a pre-made sandwich out of the refrigerator, grabbed a beer, and went outside to eat.

Tet laid down at his feet and whined.

"I know, Tet. I don't know what to do anymore either. We can take the lady and break her out, but that would cause more trouble than we can deal with. If we don't come up with something fast, Tet, we're going to lose her for good."

Hawke took another bite of the sandwich and listened to the owl cry and Tet whine.

* * *

The day turned out to be gorgeous. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun shined so brightly it looked like afternoon instead of late morning. The kids came on time a yellow bus with their school name scrolled on the side in black. Hawke and Dominic were both there to greet them when they got off the bus. After a quick introduction and a check of the permission forms, Hawke loaded a group of kids into the jet ranger and took off.

Two hours later, the kids were still on cloud nine from the helicopter tour and were sitting outside eating the bagged lunch they brought with them.

That's where everyone was when a car drove into the parking lot. Hawke noticed it first and stood up in the small group of kids he was sitting with eating lunch.

"Who is it?" One of the kids asked, before stuffing his mouth with part of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Hawke saw Oren get out of the car and from the other side came the DA. "Eat your lunch, guys, and we'll be right back."

He motioned for Dominic, who was telling another group of kids an embellished story. Hawke waited for Dominic to join them before they went inside where Oren and the DA were just walking through the main door.

"What's happened?" Hawke asked, fearing the worst.

"Nothing bad." He straightened his tie. "Madam DA, would you like to explain?"

Hawke noticed as she began that she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. He came back into the conversation when he heard 'freed'.

"The phone call I received yesterday while you were in my office was about your friend Caitlin. Another detective watched the video tape yesterday and recognized an associate of Henri Duveaux's that he put into prison less than a year before your friend was held by Duveaux. This man entered Caitlin's apartment building shortly after Henri Duveaux entered. He left less than an hour later with what appears to be blood on his clothes. The man was picked up this morning by police along with the bloody clothing. Technicians worked overnight and found the blood to be that of Henri Duveaux. An arrest was made early this morning. Caitlin O'Shaughnessy is cleared of all charges."

Dominic slapped his hands together and cheered. "When can we get her?"

Oren took over. "There is some paperwork to be handled before she can be released. I'll call you this afternoon when she's ready to be released."

Hawke shook Oren's hand while Dominic shook the DA's. Then they switched.

Oren left with the DA in front of him. Hawke and Dominic went back to the inquisitive kids feeling a lot happier.


	14. Chapter 14

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

* * *

THE FIRM

LATER THE SAME DAY

Michael was working on a cigar when someone knocked on his door. He had been back less than twenty-four hours, was suffering from a major case of jet lag, and had already been hounded more times than Elvis on tour.

He put his cigar back in the box for later and ordered the person to come in.

Not to his surprise, Caitlin came through the door wearing a pair of jeans and matching jean shirt. He had seen her hours before she was imprisoned and she had the same haggard look on her face now as she did that night.

"When were you released?" He asked before she could sit.

Caitlin took a seat and Michael got up to get her a drink. When they both had a glass in their hands, Michael sat back down.

"Oren had me released an hour ago. Thanks for him; by the way, he was great."

"What about Hawke and Dominic?" Michael asked.

"Oren arranged to take me to the hangar instead of having them pick me up. I needed to come here first. How's Kelby?" Caitlin asked thinking about the former limo driver and undercover agent she met months ago when living with Henri Duveaux. She had lost track of him after Duveaux and Rupert were arrested only to see a disheveled version of him on the steps of her apartment building the night she barbecued at Hawke's cabin with her family.

Little did Hawke know, the "someone" Kelly described to Hawke as being in the woods with her that night was Kelby. They had been feet away from each other that night.

"He's safe. Caitlin, what the two of you set up was very risky. It could have backfired at anytime." Michael took the cigar from the box and lit it. He let out a puff of smoke before saying, "I regretted saying yes to the idea the second after I said it."

"But you had no choice," Caitlin reminded him. "After all, Henri was released from prison early because of a problem created by the FIRM. The least you could do was get Kelby safely out of the country."

Michael sat up in his chair. It squeaked from the movement. "You watched a man die, Caitlin, does that have no affect on you at all?"

Caitlin remembered seeing Henri lying on the floor of her apartment with one of her kitchen knives in his chest. Kelby was standing over him with that same blank look in his eyes he had the night she found him on her steps. When trying to pour him a cup of coffee, her shaking hands dropped the carafe splashing hot coffee on her hand.

"I wasn't in the room when Kelby killed Henri." Caitlin stated.

'_He killed my family and hid my daughter's body'_, Kelby had told her through the tears he cried as they sat in her living room. Caitlin found the daughter's body in the forest with the help of Hawke, Dominic, and Airwolf. At that time, she didn't know it was Kelby's daughter or that Henri had left the body knowing she would find it. How he knew, she still didn't know.

From that night on a plan was devised to lure Henri to Caitlin's apartment. Kelby was going to take care of the body's disposal. Unfortunately, events led to Caitlin's neighbors coming home early from their trip and hearing suspicious noises from her apartment.

"What will happen to Gustav?" Caitlin asked Michael. She remembered the man that came to help Kelby get rid of the body. Gustav was another man whose life was ruined by Henri.

Michael sat back in his chair and held the cigar in front of him examining the smoking brown object. "On the jet, Kelby told me Gustav was diagnosed with cancer. He hated Henri enough to go to jail for Kelby where he'll be dead in a few months."

"But that wasn't the plan!" Caitlin raised her voice.

"The plan had to be altered!" Michael matched her tone. "No one knew a camera was recording Henri entering your building or Gustav leaving once he heard the sirens. The damage was done and Gustav was ready to take the blame. As far as the others are concerned, you had just regained your memory of the kidnapping and subsequent shooting by Horn, you were in shock and confessed to killing Henri Duveaux."

"And Kelby?" Caitlin asked. "You assure me he is safe, Michael."

"We took your car to the airport, parked it in long term parking, loaded the groceries onto the jet, and took off for a destination only my pilots and I knew about. Once Kelby was safely hidden away, he told me how to contact Gustav and finish the plan. Now a day later, Gustav is a happy man knowing Duveaux is dead, Kelby will never be seen again, and you are sitting in front of me." He smiled and leaned back in his chair with the cigar in his mouth.

"You forgot Dom and Hawke?" Caitlin reminded him.

Michael's smiled faded. "No, I didn't. I have more messages from them about you than can fill up the trashcans in this building. They thought I was at the White House in meetings and that's how it will stay. Now, go home, Caitlin, and try to put this all out of your mind."

Henri lying dead on her floor, Kelby's tears staining her carpet, Hawke's face when they walked into the officer filled apartment. How was she supposed to forget anything about the past week?

Caitlin stood, set her glass down on the silver decanter tray and turned to leave.

Now, came the difficult part.


	15. Chapter 15

Stories in the series (in order):

The Lady for a Lady

No Easy Way

Sleeping Beauties

An Act of Betrayal

The Devil You Know

Demons

It took forty-five minutes to get from the FIRM back to Santini Air. Oren pulled into a parking place in front of the hangar and unlocked Cait's door for her.

He turned toward her as best as he could with his seatbelt cinched over his chest and around his waist. "Well, it looks like this is where we say goodbye."

Caitlin undid her seatbelt and let it slide back into place. "Thank you, Oren. You did a great job for a client that couldn't help you much."

He smiled brandishing perfect white teeth. "I'll use it as a teaching guide for my next case. I'll get your car out of impound for you in the morning."

"Thanks." She opened the car door and stepped out. "I mean it, Oren, thank you for everything you did. If I ever need another lawyer, you're the first person I'll call."

"Give me time to get over this case first. Take care, Caitlin." Oren put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking place.

Once he was gone, Caitlin went inside. Dominic was pacing in front of the jet ranger.

"What's wrong, Dom?" Cait called to him.

The Italian's face suddenly lit up and he went to her giving her a large bear hug. "Oh, sweetheart, it is good to see you. I was debating whether to leave, afraid I would miss you if I did."

Caitlin looked behind him at the jet ranger. "Where were you going?"

"Hawke took off this morning and I haven't seen him since. I was going to find him, but I was afraid I would miss you if I did." He patted her cheek. "Boy, we missed you, sweetheart. Are you hungry?"

Caitlin was starved and she said as much. "Would you mind if I went to get Hawke first and then I promise I will let you fix me the biggest Italian dinner ever made in California."

Dominic smiled and patted her hand. "The two of you meet me at my place when you come back. Oh," He raised his hat to lean in and kiss her on the cheek. "It's good to have you home, Cait."

Dominic left the hangar with a spring in his step and a tune on his breath.

Caitlin fired up the jet ranger and flew to the Valley where she had a feeling Hawke would be. After seeing the jeep from the air she landed in a clearing and hiked her way to the cavern where the Lady was hidden.

A four digit code disarmed the security alarm and allowed her entrance. Sure enough, Hawke was standing at Airwolf with a soapy sponge in his hands methodically washing the Lady.

"I thought I was the only one allowed to give the Lady her weekly bath," Cait said as she stepped closer to both of them.

Hawke stopped briefly and then continued washing. "You haven't been here lately and she really needed it."

"Really?" Caitlin picked up the bucket of water and began rinsing where Hawke had left suds. "I guess I should apologize for not being here then. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me," Hawke threw the dirty sponge in the soap bucket and picked up a rag.

"Okay," Caitlin rinsed an area and watched as Hawke dried it. "I'm sorry that I was gone all that time, Airwolf. Something happened that was out of my control and I had to leave."

Hawke continued drying the water from the Lady as Caitlin talked. "I know that this isn't the first time I've left you, Airwolf, and you've had to take care of a lot of things on your own." Caitlin paused as she watched the fervor in Hawke's drying technique become slower until it stopped.

Hawke turned around to face her and Caitlin kept talking. "You take care of me all the time and I try to do the same, but sometimes things get in the way of taking care of you and I shouldn't let that happen. You are one of the highest priorities in my life and I promise to never shut you out again."

"Do you think she forgives me?" Caitlin asked after a moment of silence.

Hawke looked back at the glistening helicopter and then back at Cait. "Yeah, I think she forgives you."

Caitlin hesitated. "What about you? I was still wrapping my head around the fact that Horn kidnapped me, shot me, and dropped me off at a hospital to die when I found Henri dead in my apartment. It was all too much and I backed away instead of reaching out to you for help."

Hawke dropped the damp rag in the dirty bucket and walked toward her. "I was never walking away from you, Caitlin."

He reached her and opened his arms. She went into them and suddenly felt safe.

She backed away from him after a few minutes. "You promise never to walk away from me?"

"I said so, didn't I?" He laughed.

"Good, because," She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Right now there's a happy Italian making a lot of Italian food in his apartment and he's expecting both of us there for an early dinner."

"Followed by heartburn and a game of baseball." Hawke looped his arm around Cait's shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to walk away_ with_ me?"

They both laughed as they started cleaning up the mess.


End file.
